Queen Calanthe gathered all her remaining troops and nobles around her and retreated back to the city but during the retreat she was heavily wounded and had to be transported. However, there were so few troops left that there was no need for a siege, and once Nilfgaardian forces reached the city shortly after the Battle of Marnadal, they attacked quickly. Calanthe, the nobles, and all the troops barricaded themselves inside the castle but Nilfgaardian sorcerers quickly destroyed the gate and entered. Only the enchanted inner keep could be defended, but everyone knew that even so, they could not resist for long.

After four days of resistance, the army of Nilfgaard finally managed to break into the keep. Cintran women killed their children, the women were in turn killed by the men, and the men then committed suicide. Calanthe asked someone to finish her off, but nobody had the courage to do it, so she leaped headfirst out of the castle tower and died instantly upon hitting the ground. Some people said that Ciri was killed by her grandmother but in actuality Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallach, the mysterious black Nilfgaardian knight, helped her escape. The city of Cintra was completely razed.